Great Things To Do In Cannes Festival Beach Strolling<<>> The thing that that first struck me about things to do in Cannes France was the climate. It is a climate that allows lots of things to do. To me it felt perfect. It was warm but not too hot but maybe that was because our visit was in the month of May. It was a few years ago but I think it is probably one of those places that change its character very little. We were there just before the film festival and as I have seen it on the television since it seems the same.
We stayed in the Majestic Hotel, which is situated right on the La Croisette, and across the road is their private beach. I think this was the first expensive hotel I had ever stayed in. I remember the sun beds on their beach were yellow and white and all the waiters were in yellow too. Most of the beaches in that area were private, attached to the expensive hotels across the road. There are public beaches too further along.
It is lined with palm trees and expensive restaurants and coffee bars. I have mentioned the word ‘expensive’ a few times and I think this probably is the best word to describe the town. Of course expensive places usually have the advantage of being very clean and well ordered. One of my nicest memories of our visit was walking home from the Casino in the early hours of the morning. I was in evening dress and Malcolm in evening suit, we took our shoes off and walked back to the hotel along the Cannes beach. The beach was in the process of being cleaned for the following day and we felt perfectly safe.
If you like boats then this would be a super destination. The harbour was full of yachts of all sizes and I am sure that today there are even more and even more luxurious. Neither of us is very keen on being on the sea. I am a little nervous and Malcolm gets seasick so we just drank coffee and watched the boats come and go.
One of these Cannes villages is Grasse which very famous for the production of perfume. There has been a prosperous perfume industry there since the late 18th century. It produces over two thirds of France’s natural aromas which are used both in perfume and food flavourings .It has the pefect climate for growing the flowers used in perfume, for example, jasmine and twenty seven tonnes are harvested each year. There are several famous ‘parfumeries’ there each with a museum and tours. It is a lovely visit to make as the town is in the hills and very pretty to wander around.
We also visited Mougins. This is also a medieval hilltop town (more of a village) and it is famous for being the location of the restaurant, which first gave us ‘nouvelle cuisine ’from the famous ‘Moulins de Mougins’ owned by chef Roger Verge. It is only roughly 15 minutes from Cannes and it is so pretty set in the hills and surrounded by forest. Many famous people have property there and it is easy to see why. Many Internet sights place this at the top of ‘must see’ places to visit in this area. I would agree.
There are many caravan and camping sights and the area has more to offer than expensive shops although Cannes has its fair share of these. It doesn’t cost to window shop. The area around Cannes is delightful with the hills and forests so outdoor pursuits are varied with the added attraction of the weather, it very rarely rains.
I nearly forgot to mention Nice. This where most people would fly into although it is only eight hours by road from Paris. I didn’t see much of Nice, just the famous ‘Promenade des Anglais’ and the lovely hotels along the bay.
As you can see, the area is not just for the wealthy but there are many really interesting places to visit. It is more than the Cannes festival of film.
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